The world's largest social network Facebook will roll out new tools to help German users tackle fake news items in the months before the country's elections.

"Last month we announced measures to tackle the challenge of fake news on Facebook," the company said on Sunday in a German-language statement.  "We will put these updates in place in Germany in the coming weeks."

If users see something questionable they'll have the option of flagging it for special scrutiny by the German journalistic non-profit Correctiv.  If the item fails to pass muster, it will be labeled "disputed" and will appear lower in users' news feeds.

Facebook took its share of criticism over the proliferation of fake news that characterized the run-up to the 2016 US President Election.  Garbage from Russian propagandists and far-right malcontents flooded peoples newsfeeds.  And let's face it, many people were unprepared and not really hip to the need to consult fact checking websites such as Snopes and Politifact. 

Now, Germany is working up to national elections that will take place before the end of October, and officials have already expressed worry about the possibility of lies, half-lies, and flat-out nonsense conspiracy theories choking public discourse.  Buzzfeed already found a bunch of ginned up sites that were publishing false stories about German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is seeking re-election.